The Accidental Archmage by Edmund Batara (read out loud books .TXT) 📕

desire. Hal mentioned something about them leaving so they now could be in another

place, dimension or whatever place they have discovered. With their forms ascended,

as Hal freely admits, they could be anywhere in this reality with abilities beyond what

he could imagine. Only three of them, with the use of lowered but transcended forms,

were able to stop a Divine War. Their power enabled them to dictate their terms upon the combined pantheons and deities of an entire world. A sobering thought. Another

matter to keep in mind. He hoped they're friendly. At least to him.

He turned his gaze upon the glade, looking for a place to practice without damaging his

surroundings. He doubted Eira would be happy if she arrives at a war zone created by

his lonesome. Speaking of Eira, the clipped manner by which she had answered his

question before she left was unusual. Tyler thought that after crying so much over his

unfounded demise, she would be at least more open and forthcoming. Still another

mystery.

It seemed to him that finding answers to his initial questions have raised more

questions and given rise to complicated situations. He looked around, deciding to leave

such matters for the time being. He noticed that the colors of the forest have regained

some of their vibrant colors. Finally, he settled on practicing facing the rock face of the cliff. That way, any damage would be inflicted on the stone of the towering precipice.

Facing the wall of stone, he reviewed the Elder concepts on manifesting the desired

effects. The use of the abilities at this level did not involve the transformation of

existing magical energy to an Elder form. Though the means to use them involved Elder

means and knowledge, the results will only show and leave traces of untransformed

magical energy. For that, he was thankful.

He cannot risk any sign of the use of Elder energy, though he didn’t doubt that at

higher levels, the use of altered energy would be unavoidable. He just needed to be

careful about it when he reached that point and tone down the use to an innocuous

level. At least for now, he didn’t need to dumb down his use of his magical abilities.

The Elder basic concept was fairly simple. Of course, utilizing the concepts for spells

demand the capability to harness such energies, an understanding of the concept

fundamentals, and the details of the spells themselves. Fortunately, these had already

been provided by Hal.

The concept focuses on a three-step process: imagining or conceptualizing the effect

desired, then collecting the energy needed, and finally, utilizing one’s will to manifest it in reality. The required ability was a prepared process beforehand, modifying

physiological elements of the wielder, and the crazy ritual Eira conducted while he was

unconscious fit the bill.

Now to practice. First, the barrier. Applying gaming convention to the spell was an easy

one. SHIELD. He was used to and practiced with the concept in many RPG games. If an

advanced version becomes available, then he would merely rename it accordingly. To

make matters easier, he also decided to apply simple gaming convention to the

available spells or abilities: Defensive, Offensive, Utilitarian and Dual Use. Further

elaboration on subclasses of such spells will be made when needed. It’s not as if he had a whole slew of spells at his disposal as of the present.

First, he envisioned the kind of spell. SHIELD! Concentrating on the image, that of a

frontal barrier, he began to force his will on the magical energy around him. Believing in

its existence was not an issue, he knew it was there though for now it was not visible to

his eyes. As his will strengthened, he began to see transparent but visible threads of

the magical energy forming in front of him. They looked like very small translucent

pipes flowing and joining together. The threads began to merge and form a denser

barrier.

As the barrier formed, to his surprise it didn’t block visibility. It was as if a wall of clear film, slightly distorted, was in front of him. SUCCESS! Though he didn’t have an idea

about the strength of the barrier. He moved the shield around, trying to have finer

control over it. The barrier followed. He then folded the barrier into a prow shaped form

in front of him. Another success! But he noted that forming the shield took time. He

guessed that practicing it, as well as the other abilities, will later enable him to manifest the effect as fast as he could think of it.

He dissolved the barrier. He didn’t feel any drain as the magical energy he was actually

using was already around him. But it was tiring, physically and mentally. Not as bad as

when he exhibited such abilities in a subliminal manner but tiring nonetheless. He

guessed the difference was the conscious manifestation and control over the spell.

Lashing out in an uncontrolled manner clearly drove past his body's limits.

Practicing with the next spell, the force spell was likewise tiring. He named the spell

“AWAY”. Lame name, he admitted, but it was simple and immediately brings to mind

the effects of the spell. Yet, try as he might, he couldn’t control the effects yet. The

dead branches he piled in front of him all were flung against the rock wall, including

patches of grass and soil. He estimated the area of effect he was able to manage to be

around six feet wide. It was wider at first, but he managed to limit its coverage. Below

that width was a difficult proposition. But again, practice would resolve issue. As to its

height, he couldn’t determine it without the systematic use of appropriate indicators.

There was no way for him to hang branches at different levels.

He then went to the fireball ability, eschewing the light spell for the time being. Naming

it FIREBALL was a no brainer. But he found it easier to manage. Even the other mode

of using it, igniting it at a distance, was relatively easy. What he found difficult was

increasing the strength of the spell but then he couldn’t really go Rambo with it. The

possibility of a burnt forest was a deterrent. But he discovered that he could enhance it

by spreading its effects beyond the original area of the exploding fireball.